Del. must weigh drastic flu scenarios

A balance between awareness, warning

Some scientists and health advocates now say that the spring flu outbreak appears "very mild," providing time for limping economies to assess future risks and prepare for the worst.

"I think the perfect outcome in this situation is, you have a mild outbreak and people have time to start thinking. This is now a wake-up call for a lot of families to do some serious planning," said Jeff Levi, executive director of the Trust for America's Health.

"What if schools are closed for a week or longer? How are we going to take care of day-care? What do we do if we close schools, especially in a recession, with more people depending on school lunches for their children's nutrition?" Levi said in summing up key questions. "What do we put in their place? How are people going to be able to follow stay-at-home advice if they don't have paid sick leave?"